


Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

by StarFire279



Category: Original Work
Genre: 1960's Aesthetic, 1960s Music, Angst, Badly written baseball, Baseball, Best Friends, Birthday, Diary/Journal, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, High School, Neil Sedaka, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Slow Burn, Songfic, Student Council, Underage - Freeform, because they're in high school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-16 10:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 21
Words: 11,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarFire279/pseuds/StarFire279
Summary: Bryce has been best friends with his neighbor Carol since they were in elementary school. Now he's a senior and she's a sophomore and his feelings are changing. How does he tell her? Does he even want to tell her? And how does this journal writing thing work? Carol makes it look so easy.





	1. Friday Afternoon

**BRYCE**

I’ve never written in something like this before. Guys like me don’t write their feelings down. Carol, my best friend, always seems to feel better after she’s written something down in her diary though.

Not that this is a diary! No, this is a journal. Yeah, journal sounds way less girly. I just want to make that clear.

Well, my reason for writing in a journal all of a sudden is… I think I might be in love with Carol.

I started to figure this out when I realized that I was staring at her hair earlier today. It’s a dark brown, bordering on black, with highlights ranging from blond to dark red to light brown. I swear I even saw a shimmer of midnight blue. All natural, too. Not once has she dyed her hair. Her parents would never allow it.

But her eyebrows are pale blond. She complains about how you can’t see them sometimes. I used to beat up this kid when we were in elementary school for calling her “Miss. No-Eyebrows.” I was nine.

Today she was wearing it down. Her hair, I mean. She was wearing her hair down. I thought that she should wear it like that more often. The way her hair framed her face and brushed her back made her look like an angel. At least, how I picture an angel would look.

Then I started to notice other things. Like how blue her eyes are. How slender she is for how tall she is, not taller then me since I’m six foot, but she’s close. How beautiful her face looks when she chews on her bottom lip when she’s worried…

And then I was hit with the urge to kiss her. I might have kissed her right there if I hadn’t been distracted by how tight my pants were all of a sudden. Carol is my best friend and I didn’t want to believe that she was turning me on. One quick glance told me otherwise.

Now I stop. This writing thing isn’t making me feel any better. All it’s doing is making me want to kiss my best friend again and that is just wrong. I am not falling in love with Carol. There’s just no way. Is there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this a few years ago and found it as I was going through old files. I figured I would clean it up a bit and post it here, cause why not. If you like it tell your friends, if you don't tell your enemies. lol.


	2. Saturday Afternoon

**CAROL**

SIX!

The bake sale went wonderfully today!!! We managed to raise TWO-THOUSAND dollars for the Maple Park High School Student Council. Most of the money will be going towards Prom. Which is good, because the Prom Committee always goes over budget no matter who is running it.

It was very nice of Bryce to come and help out. Especially since he’s been very busy with Varsity Baseball and senior responsibilities. I an so thankful he is my best friend! He always came to my rescue when Tommy Crawford called me “Miss. No-Eyebrows.” My six year-old self still hasn’t recovered. (I HATE THAT NAME!) It was only right that the two of us would become best friends after something like that. Bryce and I, not Tommy and I, ugh. Plus, Bryce and live right next door to each other, so being best friends is perfect.

For the bake sale I asked Mom to make her delicious homemade brownies, so I was able to bring two dozen of them. The other Council Officers brought lemon bars, cup cakes of varying flavors, cookies, and just about anything else you can think of. Linda brought her mom’s snicker doodles, which are to die for! I would have eaten all of them if I could have, or if I had the money. When it was obvious that I was going to spend at least half of my shift drooling over the snicker doodles, Linda was kind enough to give me one, free of charge. I couldn’t thank her enough. I think I’ll buy her an ice cream the next time we go to the mall as a thank you.

The only downside to the entire event was Lisa. She wouldn’t let me play any of the cd’s I brought. She said Neil Sedaka wasn’t modern and modern pop music is what would draw in customers. I think that is a load of fudge. Neil Sedaka may not have been making music in the last few years, but everyone should recognized “Stupid Cupid” thanks to Mandy More’s shot at music fame a few years ago.

Well, I guess I should actually go and start dividing up the bake sale money between the different committees and clubs. That is my job as Student Council Treasurer after all.

I wonder which movie Bryce will want to watch at our weekly movie night tonight. Maybe he’ll let me put on the new Star Trek movie!!


	3. Saturday Night

** BRYCE **

All right, lets try this writing thing again.

I only just made it home from the weekly movie night Carol and I have every Saturday in front of her family’s big screen when I don’t have away games. Tonight we watched the new Star Trek movie. The reboot by J.J. Adams, I think. Not the original stuff, although she has made me watch a vast majority of the original Star Trek too. It was her choice. I’ve never really been into any of the Star Trek science fiction stuff, but she loves the original series. So, of course she pleaded with me to watch the new movie. Something about Leonard Nimroy being in it. I spent most of the movie staring at her rather than actually watching.

I’m not quite sure if I’m falling in love with her or not. I know I said I was yesterday, but today was different. While I stared at her, I thought that she was beautiful, but she didn’t really turn me on. Not like before. Even at the bake sale earlier, nothing. No physical reaction, I mean.

On the other hand, I’ve never seriously thought about how she looks before. When she would ask, I would always tell her she looked fine or whatever. Unless she looked like an absolute mess. Now when I see her it’s as if she has turned into an angel. Her beauty radiates off of her. At the bake sale she seemed to shine in the sun. Now I’m using Alliteration! 

What is happening to me?


	4. Monday Morning Before Breakfast

** CAROL **

FOUR!

Nothing happened yesterday except church. Sundays are always so boring. Mom and Dad never let me go out on Sundays. They say that since it’s God’s day of rest I need to stay inside and find quite things to do and reflect back on the past week.

Whatever. I put on my headphones, blasted Neil Sedaka, and caught up on the Student Council bookkeeping and what little homework I had left. As I said, boring.

ONLY FOUR MORE DAYS UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY(!!!!!) AND MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!! 

I’m extremely excited that my parents are throwing me a Sweet Sixteen. Last year my celebration was dinner with my family, Bryce, and his family. This year is going to be so, so, so much better. Mom and Dad have promised me a dance floor, a D.J., a 1960’s theme, and food galore. It’s so hard to wait!

 

Oh! That would be Bryce honking the horn of his 1968 Mustang. I love his car! Time for school.


	5. Monday 2nd Period

**CAROL**

Something is up with Bryce. He was completely silent on the way to school. Normally we both talk up a storm about what we’re doing that day. He seemed fine on Saturday. At the bake sale and at our movie night. I know he doesn’t particularly like Star Trek, but I’ve watched plenty of random action movies that I don’t particularly like for him before, so that can’t have been it.

Linda keeps looking at me and gesturing to the notebook on her desk. I know I’m supposed to be writing in my English journal right now about what I think the main themes are in  Of Mice and Men , but I can’t! I need to figure out what is up with Bryce! As his best friend it is my job to ——


	6. Monday After School

**CAROL**

Linda was trying to tell me that Mr. Williams, the 10 th grade English teacher, was coming up the row behind me. He took my diary for the rest of the period and made me stay in at break to bang erasers. Bang erasers! No one does that anymore! Mr. Williams has to be the only teacher left on the planet to still use a chalkboard rather than a whiteboard. Luckily everyone who passed by thought I was just helping out and not being punished.

At lunch Bryce sat with his baseball buds, so I didn’t see him. Now watching his practice, nothing seems wrong. It must have been a case of the Monday Blues mixed in with senioritis. I don’t blame him. Sometimes I wish I was done with high school and I’m only a sophomore!

I like watching Bryce when he plays. Especially when he’s up on the mound. His concentration on his pitching is amazing. It almost looks like he knows exactly when the batter will swing. His pitches have such perfect timing. He almost always throws strikes.

I wish I could have that kind of focus in my World History class. That’s the homework I am currently procrastinating on. Plus, Mrs. Thompson wouldn’t call me out for not paying attention. Baseball practice will be over soon and I should at least try to do this assignment before then. This bench is starting to bet really hard.


	7. Monday Night

**BRYCE**

I can’t act differently around her. Not while I’m so confused about how I feel. Carol notices when my mood changes. She seems to notice every little thing.

She was so animated this morning. Glowing in her annoyance about never being allowed out on Sundays. It was hard to do anything but listen to her. Hard if I wanted to stay on the road, I mean.

Carols voice is like a flute. It’s a slightly higher pitch that twitters up and down, almost like a singing bird. 

Wait… that was two completely different comparisons. My head must no longer be screwed straight.

Avoiding Carol at lunch wasn’t a good idea either. She got worried and started asking questions after practice. I lied and told her it was just the Monday Blues. She perked up again and started animatedly talking about her party.

Her birthday.

Shit.

I still need to get her a birthday present. What do you get your best friend, who you might be falling for, when she turns sixteen?


	8. Tuesday After School

**CAROL**

THREE!

Student Council was a disaster today!

It all started because of Tommy.

“Hi Miss No-Eyebrows! Nice skirt,” he said when Linda and I entered the Student Council room.

Then he had the gall to try and lift my sky blue, knee length, flowing skirt as I walked by. That boy has some nerve! So, of course I smacked the back of his thick head after dodging his hand.

“If you call me that stupid name one more time, I will tell Bryce,” I threatened him.

I went to sit next to Linda at the opposite side of the room.

“What’s Bryce Sanders going to do about it?” Tommy practically shouted across the room.

“He’ll beat you up. Just like he’s done before.”

“Whatever.”

Tommy became very interested in the notebook that was in front of him. I really think Tommy is still afraid of Bryce after all this time.

Mark Hart, Student Council Vice President, looked up from today’s agenda at the commotion Tommy had made and noticed Linda and I had entered. Or more specifically that Linda had entered.

“Hey, Linda!” he called.

“Yes, Mark?” Linda asked with a flirty smile.

Mark was visibly thrown a little by the question.

“Uhh… you look really cute today,” he ended up saying with a blush.

“Thanks.” Linda blushed back.

Mark and Linda kinda have this thing going. She claims they haven’t kissed,but I have stumbled across them, alone, in what could only be described as intimate situations. The most awkward time was when I walked into what I thought was going to be an empty Student Council room only to find Linda sitting in Mark’s lap, one of his hand on the back of her neck pulling her face towards him. I immediately turned around and left. Linda ran out after me to explain that she and Mark really liked each other, but because he was a senior and she was a sophomore they were going to try to not be serious. She looked so worried that I was going to judge her that I had to be supportive. Now, when they flirt, I try to ignore them.

“Davis, stop flirting,” Lisa ordered Linda as she strutted in. “We need to get started.”

“Lisa, the bell hasn’t even,” I started to say.

The bell chose that moment to ring the start of the period.

“Rung… yet.”

The bell must have been extra loud that period for some reason. The sound of it just made me deflate. Lisa gave me the most superior smirk.

I swear, popularity is the only reason Lisa Walker was elected Student Council President. She’s so horrible. She’s constantly using everyone’s last names as if she’s better than us. She thinks that just because she is Student Council President as a junior and the most popular girl in school, that she is at the top of the world and that everyone should bow down to her as if she were queen. 

“Now, Davis, do you have the minutes from yesterday?”

Lisa sat behind the large desk reserved for the President like a monarch settling into her throne.

“Right here,” Linda said with little enthusiasm. 

Linda passed out copies to everyone. While Lisa looked her copy over she gave me the blow that ruined my day.

“Bennet, I need you to redistribute the bake sale money.”

“What! Why?” I said in dismay.

“The Prom Committee needs at least fifteen hundred dollars.”

“Fifteen hundred! I gave them fourteen hundred. Another four hundred went to athletic pep rallies. The last two hundred is going to be split between the arts clubs and mentor program.”

“Instead of giving the last two hundred to unimportant things, put it in the Prom account,” she ordered.

“Lisa, those groups are not unimportant. They need the money. Actually, they need more money then we are giving them.”

“Bennet, no one cares. Just move the money.”

“But—“

“Move the money!:

Lisa ignored me for the rest of the work period. Tommy tried to make a jab at me again, my hair instead of my eyebrows, but I almost bit his head off, kind of like when you eat Sour Patch Kids. Linda and Mark flirted a bit more. I tried to think about my birthday to cheer myself up, but couldn’t. My head was filled with all of the art supplies the art clubs wouldn’t be able to buy because some people have skewed priorities.

That reminds me, I have to ask Bryce for a favor when he’s done with baseball practice, which should be over soon, I think.

 

** BRYCE **

It isn’r anywhere near the time I have been normally writing. It’s still light outside, but I thought I should write this down.

I drive Carol to and from school everyday, even when I have baseball practice, because we are neighbors. She doesn’t mind waiting for me and usually has Student Council stuff she is running around for anyway. 

Today, just like any other day, I parked in my driveway and shut off the ignition. Carol literally lives right next door. We sat in my car, in my driveway, for what felt like hours, but could have only been a couple of minutes. That was more the enough time for the silence to get awkward.

I don’t think I’ve ever had an awkward silence with Carol, at least not one that wasn’t prompted by something other than trying to talk about puberty.

Anyway, I hadn’t said anything, or even really moved from behind the wheel because I could tell there was something Carol wanted to say. She always has to work up the nerve to say anything she thinks might even remotely be an inconvenience to the other person. It’s sweet how considerate she is.

When she did speak up this is what she asked.

“Willyousingasongatmybirthdayparty?”  
I had no idea what she said. She spoke way to quickly and about an octave or two above her normally higher pitch.

“What?” I asked.

Carol took a deep breath and tried again.

“Will you sing a song at my birthday party? I don’t carewhatyousing. It’dbeyourchoice. Ijustloveyou—“

I interrupted her before she passed out from lack of air.

“Carol! Slow down! Breath!”

She paused and took another deep breath, practically hyperventilating.

“Sorry,” she said when she could breath properly again.

She had this small embarrassed smile forming across her lips that made her blue eyes sparkle.

“So, will you sing for me?” she asked.

The hope in her expression, the pleading in her eyes, the way she bit her bottom lip. Hell, even the way way her hands were clasped together in her lap made me want to give her the world.

“Sure,” I told her. I couldn’t get myself to say anything else.

Without any warning, Carol launched herself across the seat at me, trapping me in a hug. I froze. She was so close, practically in my lap because we were in my car. I could feel everywhere we touched as if I was on fire. The smell of her hair filled my head. Strawberry ice cream on a summer day. There was no way I could have let myself react. If I had moved, my impulses would have been to pull her closer and kiss her. Hard. Possibly with tongue, if kissing her was as exciting as I imagine it would be.

Lucky for me, Carol released me after a few agonizing, but blissful seconds and didn’t seem to notice my lac of reaction.

“Thank you! I’ll see you later!” and she was gone in a blur.

After she closed the passenger door and entered her own house, I stayed in my car for several more minutes. I tried to collect my thoughts, but not even the beauty of my ’68 Mustang was helping.

So, that brings me here. Writing it all down has kinda helped. I still really want her. Enough that I don’t think I can control myself around her. At least not for the next few hours. If she calls or comes over wanting to hang out I’ll say I have too much homework.

I have to figure out which song to sing for her.

Shit.


	9. Tuesday Night

**CAROL**

When we got home, I asked Bryce to sing a song at my birthday party. He has the most amazing voice.

When he was in middle school, his mom decided that Bryce needed to be more “rounded.” So, she put him in voice lessons. It was the weirdest thing at the time. His teacher must have been great or Bryce had a hidden talent, because when he quit his freshman year of high school he could sing. I mean really sing. Like in broadway musicals and so on if he was interested. Well, at least I think he’s that good.

It was strange how easily he agreed. Normally, Bryce resists like crazy when I try to get him to sing. The longest he has resisted me once I’ve started to pester him has been three hours. I almost gave up then before he finally said yes. And then, he only sang a minute of a song. 

Thinking about it, I don’t think Bryce has ever sung a whole song for me. So, why has he agreed to now? It must be for my birthday. That’s all I can think of.

The gentle way he said yes made me feel all warm underneath my excitement. But when I hugged him, why didn’t he hug me back?


	10. Wednesday at the Student Store

**CAROL**

TWO!

Today is my shift in the student store. From the beginning of seventh period until an hour after school (basically two to four in the afternoon) I have to sit here and sell school supplies to desperate students and spirit wear to over enthusiastic parents.

My classes were uneventful today. In Pre-Calc we worked on trig functions, Ugh. In English there was more reading. Tommy made another horrid comment in Student Council, about my book bag this time. He didn’t call me Miss. No-Eyebrows, which was good. I will follow through on my threat to tell Bryce if he calls me that despicable name again. I managed to successfully ignore him. In Chemistry we started a lab that isn’t due until next Wednesday. I almost failed my World History quiz, but I’m not overly worried even though I probably should be. I’m kind of surprised I’m passing that class. World History is so boring. In French Two we watched a movie because Madam Maribo was grading the French IB papers. Then I came here.

I keep thinking about the Varsity Baseball game that is going to start in a few minutes. I’ve never missed a varsity game since I entered high school, which was the same year that Bryce made varsity. Actually, I haven’t missed any of Bryce’s games since he started playing baseball in middle school and then joined the high school Frosh/Soph team.

Wait, is that…, it is! Maybe Linda and Mark can cover for me. What are they doing together, holding hands, anyway? I thought they weren’t going to be serious. So, doesn’t that mean they weren’t going to go public?


	11. Wednesday Night

**CAROL**

I made it to the baseball game! Linda and Mark agreed to finish my shift if I promised not to tell anyone that I’d seen them together. I also had to promise not to tell anyone that they are together together, as in are a couple. I knew it was only a matter of time before they gave in and actually went out on dates and stuff, in a serious way. I don’t understand why they’re keeping it a secret though. Sure, she’s a sophomore and he’s a senior, but that’s not that weird. If they really like each other then why should other people care.

Maple Park won the game!!!! It was all thanks to Bryce. In the top of the last inning we were only two runs ahead of Pacific Grove High School. They had two strikes and so put their best batter on the plate. AND BRYCE STRUK HIM OUT!!!!! 

Bryce’s pitching was flawless. He was so graceful up on the mound. I know that’s kind of weird to say about a guy, but it’s true. I can not find the words to describe it, but it was a spectacular image.

Things after the game were strange though.

I finished tallying up the final score, total fouls, strikes, everything, and handed them off to Coach Carter. As the varsity head coach he uses the statistics to help plan practices. Halfway through my freshman year he dubbed me the teams official score keeper since I was coming to all of the games and already knew how to accurately keep score. My role as score keeper was another reason I was worried about missing the game, second only to the chance to support Bryce.

The players were making their way out of the dugout, so of course I ran up to Bryce to give him the hug I always give him when his team wins. He must not have seen me rush up, because he ducked back into the dugout to grab something he must have forgotten.

“Great game! You were amazing out there, Bryce,” I congratulated him when he reappeared. I didn’t try to hug him then, because his large sports bag ended up in between us.

“Thanks, Carol.”

He looked right over the top of my head and refused to meet my eyes, which was beyond strange. He normally has a big smile for me when the team wins and he’s played so well.

“So…” I began as we walked in the direction of the boy’s locker room. “Are we going to Ramon’s or Desert Barbecue to celebrate with the team?”

“I’m not going out with the team,” Bryce said all of a sudden. “Can you find another ride home?”

I was absolutely stunned.

“Yeah.”

I stopped walking as Bryce continued walking. I stood there rooted to the spot as he disappeared into the locker room. Bryce has never asked me to find a different ride home. He takes me everywhere. If we’re even vaguely going in the same direction he’s happily driven me to where I need to go and picked me up again. Even when I have had to be at school super early for Student Council, Bryce has always driven me. I’ve never had to find another ride before.

Luckily, I found Linda closing up the student store and was able to ask her if her parents could drive me home. She must have noticed how silent I was, but she’s a nice enough friend that she didn’t say anything. Tomorrow before English she’s bound to ask questions.

Have I done something to upset Bryce? Is that why he was withdrawn today? He didn’t give me his normal victory hug. Actually, he didn’t touch me at all today. Not one bump or accidental touch of hands when passing something, It’s not like we go out of our way to touch or anything. We’re just extremely comfortable with each other so it’s noticeable when there is a complete lack of touch. 

After winning games Bryce always gives me a great big bear hug, but he maintained at least six inches of space between us after today’s win.

He didn’t look upset or angry either. When he’s been those things in the past he’s told me, and why, and how I can help. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve always been good about talking through things when one of us pisses the other off. We’ve had too many fights over the years to not be good at talking things out. But today, it was like he didn’t even want to look at me let alone talk to me.

I can’t loose Bryce. I have to figure out what is wrong, why he’s acting so strange. He has been my best friend for almost ten years. No more than best friends. Siblings. We fight like siblings. Fighting even though we love each other. Bryce is my constant, the person who has been there for me, wether I was happy or sad.

Only once have we not been together. I was ten and Bryce had just turned thirteen. Being a “hot shot” seventh grader, he got it into his head that he didn’t need a fifth grade girl for a best friend. We’d already been in separate schools the year before when he entered middle school in sixth grade. For six months that year he refused to be my friend. I was angry and sad that he no longer wanted to be my best friend. Even though I had other friends in my own class, I still felt so lonely. Eventually, Bryce was so lonely himself and he apologized on my birthday becoming my best friend again. I didn’t fully and completely forgive him for those six months until he asked me to be his valentine when I was thirteen. My excitement at having him as my valentine erased any thoughts I still had that he might still not want to be my friend.

I need to figure out what is up with him! Even though I have no idea where to start.

 

** BRYCE **

I screwed up royally today.

Carol was able to make it to the varsity game even though she though she wouldn’t. I had started to give up hope as we got closer and closer to the first pitch. But she ran up, score pad in hand, and just about crashed into Coach Carter. Coach had been looking towards the parking lot as if she might run up from there. He forgets that she can’t drive. I just rolled my eyes from where I was in the dugout, smiling to myself, and turned my attention to the game until it ended.

Carol has been at every single one of my baseball games since I started playing in middle school. At this point I’m not sure I could play my best if she wasn’t there.

Maple Park won when I struck out the last batter in the top of the ninth while we were still two runs ahead. Carol came up to me as I left the dugout, like normal. This is where I started making mistakes. Instead of giving Carol a huge hug, like I normally would after a game, especially when Maple Park wins, I kept my distance. First I went back into the dugout as if I’d left something, which I hadn’t, and then I made sure my gear bag was between me and her to keep my distance. The semi-rational part of my brain gave me two choices: try to hide all emotion or show her everything I was feeling at the time. With one touch I knew that my impulses would have taken over. Feeling her warm skin, smelling her sweet shampoo. I would have lost it. As ashamed as I am to write this, I would have kissed her without her permission had I hugged her. She would have instantly hated me if I had done that. So, I didn’t hug her.

I love her and I don’t know what to do about it.

My second mistake was asking her to find another ride home. I drive her everywhere. At first when I learned to drive, driving her even when we weren’t going to the same place or I was just dropping her off and picking her up again was just an excuse to drive. Now I just plain enjoy spending the time with her. It was the tone of my voice. I had next to no emotion and bordered on sounding like an unfeeling robot. I’m hitting myself with regret.

The last mistake I made, the one that put the royal in royally screwed up, was when I just walked away. I walked away from my best friend. She had whispered a silent ‘yes’ and stopped walking. What I should have done then was stop, turn around, hug her, and explain that I was going birthday present hunting instead of celebrating the win with the rest of the team.

BUT I DIDN’T DO THAT!!!!!!! I should have, but I didn’t. Instead I acted like a total jackass.

Losing Carol would be the end of me. If she can never return my feelings, I will be happy as long as she stays my friend. We’ve been best friends for so long. We’ve been through so much together. There would be a critical piece of me missing if she hated, or even disliked me. This all sounds way too melodramatic.

Do I tell her that I love her and risk losing our friendship? Or do I contain my feelings, stay her best friend, and possibly watch as she falls in love with someone else?

I DON’T KNOW!

On a better note, I found the perfect birthday present for Carol. Short of finding a time machine to the 1960’s. This perfect gift is a Neil Sedaka vinyl record. Signed by Neil Sedaka. It took me six hours and five record stores to find it. I was able to barter the price down so my parents wont totally kill me when they find out how much I spent. At least the present is taken care of. Now I have to find a song and figure out what to do with my feelings. How am I going to get through this?


	12. Thursday After School

**CAROL**

ONE!!!!!!!

Bryce is still being withdrawn. I tried talking to him about what was causing this. All he did was deny anything was wrong and then changed topics. I’m really starting to worry about him. He’s never acted like this before.

By the time Student Council started for the day, Linda could tell that I was very close to becoming absolutely distressed. Neither Lisa or Tommy could provoke me into an emotion response. At least one of them does every Student Council meeting. Tommy may have even gotten away with calling me Miss. No-Eyebrows again. I was to far out of it to have even noticed.

To cheer me up, Linda “kidnaped” me after school to go shopping. It helped. We went to my favorite vintage and thrift stores and found her a really cute outfit to wear to my birthday party tomorrow. I even found the perfect bracelet to go with my own dress.

Sixteen. I can’t believe I’m going to be sixteen tomorrow. Right now it’s just so surreal. I’m going to have a million things to do tomorrow, which should at least keep me busy if it doesn’t cheer me up.


	13. Thursday Night

**BRYCE**

I found it!! It only took me a couple of days, but I found it. The perfect song was staring me in the face. It really should have been one of the first songs I looked at. “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” by Neil Sedaka. Carol will love it. Neil Sedaka is her favorite musician.

Carol has played this song a million times before, but this is the first time I’ve actually looked at the lyrics. It’s kinda creepy how the lyrics match up with our lives. Three lines in particular.

“When you were only six I was your big brother.”

I was nine and Carol was six when I started protecting her from Tommy Crawford and other playground bullies. Just like a big brother would.

“Then when you were ten we didn’t like each other”

I got in into my head when I turned thirteen that it was uncool to have a ten year old girl as my best friend. I completely ignored her for six months and she hated me for that. When I got so fed up with the friends I made in middle school, when I missed playing with Carol so much it hurt, I apologized and we became best friends again. She didn’t completely forgive me for several years though.

“When you were thirteen you were my funny valentine.”

I was sixteen and she was thirteen the first time I asked her to be my valentine. It was a just-for-fun kind of thing. There were several girls at school who kept giving glaringly obvious hints that they would like me to ask them out for Valentine’s Day. I was not interested in any of them, or anyone at all really. So, I started telling people that Carol was going to be my valentine. I bought her one of those ridiculous joke cards from the corner drug store. We shared my mom’s homemade chocolate and gossiped about the rumors we’d heard that day at school about who was now dating and who’d had their heart broken that year. It was a fun day and she finally forgave me for my middle school stupidity. Which I was very thankful for. Her forgiveness, I mean.

I hope she can forgive me for being so distant these past couple of days. What I really should have done was tell her that my feelings for her were changing back when I first realized what was happening. We’ve always told each other everything. Maybe she could have helped me… but how? Ugh!!!

Tomorrow I’m going to tell her everything. She needs to know as much as I need to tell her. Then I will sing “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen”… and then I will leave the party since I don’t think I’ll be able to look her in the eye. I plan on singing towards the end of the night, after cake and all, so…

I’m going to be a coward if I leave.


	14. Friday Morning

**CAROL**

I’M SIXTEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know, it doesn’t really feel any different from being fifteen. I’m just really excited!!!!!!!!!!! My party tonight is going to be amazing!!

Here is my schedule for today:

6:00 am Wake up. Eat breakfast. Get dressed in a cute, patterned top and mini skirt circa the 1960’s that I bought two weeks ago for today. I love vintage!! (I’ve actually done all of this already and I adore my outfit!)

6:45 am Leave for school. (I managed to get Bryce to agree to wear a couple of vintage pieces I bought for him at the same time I bought my outfit. Hopefully he will remember and actually wear them. I know that if he does he will look so handsome!)

7:00 am School. Ugh. ( I do not want to sit through Pre-Calc and World History on my birthday, but I wasn’t able to get Mom and Dad to agree to let me skep school for the entire day.)

1:00 pm Early pick up from school!! (Dad is picking me up to go out for lunch and then take me to my hair appointment. I may not get to skip the entire day, but I do get to skip part of it. No French!!)

3:00 pm Pick up the food. (I’m not actually doing this since my hair appointment might still be going on. Mom is going to Heritage, this amazing little family run Italian restaurant that I absolutely adore, to pick up all of the food.)

4:00pm Bryce arrives with Linda and Mark. (The four of us are going to decorate my entire house, inside and out. Mostly we’ll be focusing on the backyard. That is where the D.J., dance floor, food, and main festivities will be taking place.)

6:00 pm Get ready. (Linda and I are changing at my house while Bryce has graciously offered his house to Mark.)

6:30 pm The D.J. arrives to set up in the backyard.

7:00 pm Party Time!!!!

9:30 pm Cake. (I’m not super excited about the whole singing Happy Birthday thing, but I can’t exactly avoid it either.)

10:00 pm Bryce sings. (I have no idea what song he has picked out. Truthfully, I’m just happy that he will be singing. He did call me last night to tell me that I am going to love the song he’s planning to sing!)

11:00 pm Party ends. (Everyone is supposed to go home at eleven. Linda is sleeping over and Bryce lives next door. I’m sure my parents wont kick him out until midnight or one in the morning. They are going to help me to open my presents! I wonder how many there will be. Not that presents are the end all be all of birthdays, they’re just nice.)

It seems like a busy day, but I am super excited! I am sixteen!!!

There is Bryce’s horn. Time for school.

I’M SIXTEEN!!!!!


	15. Friday Before the Party

**CAROL**

All of the decorations are up. The food is artfully laid out. with lots of soda to drink. The D.J. is setting up. Everything has gone smoothly so far. I’m so excited! It’s so hard to sit still enough to write. I’m practically shaking.

The dress I am wearing is a classic 60’s silhouette of red lace over red silk with a tight bodice that flows out into a swing skirt that starts at my hips and ends at my knees. There are two inch straps over my shoulders that lead into a gently curved neckline. I love this dress. The red color gives my pale skin a pink flush and makes my dark hair look darker while bringing out the red undertones. The contrast with my blue eyes is causing my eyes to look as if they are amethysts. The effect as a whole is amazing!

I am sitting on the bottom step of the stairs in my house that lead up to the second floor, waiting for Linda to finish the last touches to her makeup and for my other guests to arrive. The D.J. is in the backyard with my Dad shadowing him to make sure he doesn’t destroy anything. My Dad is paranoid.

 

Bryce and Mark are back and they look fantastic! Mark has nailed the 60’s jock look. He pulls off the vintage blue and white letterman’s sweater well. I wonder where he found it.

Bryce looks… dark. But in a really good way. His vintage suit is a black that borders on midnight blue. The matching hat makes his hair look like a lighter brown, almost blond, which is striking compared to it’s normal medium brown color. The deep hue of the suit is making his emerald eyes sparkle. I never thought I would say that about Bryce’s eyes. 

There is something different about Bryce tonight. I’m not sure what it is. I can see that the worry, the burden he refused to tell me about these past couple of days has been lifted from his shoulders. He seems more alive, happier than before.

I have to write this last part quickly, but when he walked in just now he told me that I looked beautiful. The hug he gave me was one of the best I have ever received from him. I can’t wait until he sings for me later! I know that Bryce will give a performance that I wont soon forget.


	16. Saturday Whenever

**BRYCE**

She doesn’t love me.


	17. Saturday Afternoon

**CAROL**

I can’t find Bryce. I need to find him. What happened yesterday at the party… Explaining this will be so much easier if I start at the beginning. Maybe then I’ll even have a better understanding of the whole thing.

People started showing up a little after seven. I did my best to greet them as they arrived, but there was no way I was going to stay glued to the front door. That was my parents job. They were supposed to tell everyone where to put any presents they may have brought then shown them how to get to the back yard. As long as I said hi to everyone over the course of the night I was good. I do think just about everyone came up to me to wish me happy birthday and tell me how amazing I looked. Everyone I invited came dressed in some sort of 1960’s fashion. 

By eight o’clock, the party was in full swing. Everyone was eating or dancing, and I was in the middle of it all. It was so much fun! I was dancing to all of the faster songs with a different group of people each song, and every time the D.J. played a slower song I would turn around to find a different boy asking me to dance. I swear this is true. Bryce asked me to swing dance a couple of times, which attracted an audience each time.

Last summer, the two of us randomly decided to take a swing dancing and actually ended up fairly good. I had so much fun in that class!

By the time my parents brought out the cake at nine thirty, I was soaring on an adrenaline high. I was so happy and excited and having such a great time that I didn’t think anything could go wrong.

The D.J. got everyone to join in to sing “Happy Birthday.” That was super embarrassing. The cake was a delicious chocolate ice cream cake with buttercream frosting.

When the dancing started up again after cake, Bryce approached me as I was chatting with Linda.

“Carol, will you dance the next slow dance with me?” he asked.

It was hard to form a response with how he was looking at me right then. He was confident. More confident then I had ever seen him. There was a shimmer of something in his eyes that I had never seen there before. I did not even know what it was. I had to actively swallow before I could answer.

“Sure, Bryce.” I said with a big smile.

“Cool,” he said. Then he walked away to respond to someone else who had called his name.

I turned back to Linda and was greeted with a cheshire cat grin. It was the most knowing, conspiratorial smile I had ever seen on her. It was like she knew exactly what the unknown shimmer in Bryce’s eyes had been.

“What?” I asked her.

I was slightly shaken and could tell that she knew something that I didn’t.

“Nothing,” she said all mysterious like.

A couple moments later, the next slow song started, which left me know time to interrogate Linda further. Bryce came back over to claim my hand for the dance before any other boys could get the idea. The slow song was “La La La Means I Love You” by the Delfonics. Bryce led me to the middle of the dance floor. When he pulled me close, my body responded all on its own. My arms went around his neck to mirror his arms around my waist and I pulled myself close enough to put my headon his shoulder.

We danced like that, or really swayed, for about a minute or so. My heart was starting to beat irregularly due to how close we were. Bryce pulled away so he could look at me, but he did not pull far enough away that we would have to let go of one another. My hands stayed wrapped around his neck, with my fingers instinctively going into his hair at the base of his neck, while his hands gripped my waist.

“We’ve been best friends for a long time,” he said, not quite meeting my eyes.

“Yeah, you’ve been my best friend since practically forever,” I said.

I was slightly confused. Between the way Bryce was acting, the way he was looking at me, or rather not looking at me, the way my heart was fluttering, and then the words he was saying, it was no wonder that I was confused. I can’t believe that anyone but Bryce would not have been.

“Did you know that it’s been nearly ten years since the first time I beat of Tommy Crawford for calling you Miss. No-Eyebrows.”

“Yeah.”

I had no idea where his train of thought was leading. I wish I had.

“Has it ever crossed your mind that one, or maybe both, of us might fall in love?”

His words shocked me. No, it had never crossed my mind. What did he mean? Fall in love with each other? With other people? Bryce is my best friend. He’s been like a brother to me for so long.

After sputtering for a few seconds, I managed to string together a couple of confused words.

“Fall in love?”

The two of us had stopped dancing by then. We were just standing in the middle of the dance floor while other couples swayed around us. My hands dropped from his neck to my sides. Bryce’s hands lightly drifted up my arms, sending goosebumps along their wake, to rest gently on my shoulders. And then he said the most unexpected thing.

“I love you, Carol. That’s why I’ve been acting so strangely this past week. I started noticing you in a different way. A better way. You will always be my best friend, but I wanted you to know that.”

Then, while I stood there like a stunned statue, he laid a kiss on my forehead. I have absolutely no idea what I would have done, how I would have reacted, if Bryce had tried to kiss me on the lips. Did he want to!?

Immediately after, “La La La Means I Love You” ended. Bryce quickly released me to run up to the D.J. and grab a microphone.

“The Birthday Girl has requested a song,” he announced to the party. “So Carol, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.”

Then he sang one of my favorite Neil Sedaka songs, never breaking eye contact with me. I got lost in his voice.

I had never realized before that moment how our lives are mirrored in that song. The similarities border on creepy. It’s crazy.

Bryce disappeared shortly after he finished. I tried to follow, I really did, but everyone just had to stop me! They all wanted to tell me things like, “That was sweet of him,” “He must be a really great friend,” and “His voice was amazing! I wish he would sing for me.” That last comment struck a nerve and anger began to boil on top of all of the confusion I was feeling. Linda, bless her soul, managed to pull me out of the crowd and into the house before I could explode at anyone. We were safely in my bedroom when I finally let loose. Linda stood near my bed while I paced around the room.

“How could they say those things! ‘That was nice of him,’ and ‘That was so sweet, I wish he would sing for me.” Bryce very rarely sings for anyone let alone me, and I’m his best friend! The song was sweet and cute, yeah, but that’s not why he sang it. He… he…”

I broke down into tears and collapsed onto my bed to sob out my overwhelming emotions. Linda sat down next to me and handed me tissues from the box on my nightstand. She patiently waited for me to calm down some.

“He loves me, Linda. That’s what he told me, before he went to sing. He loves me. How could that have happened?” I desperately asked.

“You’re a beautiful girl,” Linda told me. “A beautiful girl with an amazing personality and a piercing set of blue eyes. Any guy would be crazy not to fall in love with you.”

“What am I going to do?”

I’m glad Linda was the only one with me, because the desperation in my voice was thick. I felt completely lost.

“Well, first you should figure out how you feel about him and once you know that you should tell Bryce. Then maybe see where things go from there…”

Before I could come up with a response there was a knock on my bedroom door.

“Who is it?” Linda called out.

“Mark,” came the muffled reply. “A few people are getting ready to leave and they were hoping to with Carol a one last happy birthday.”

“Okay, we’ll be down in a few,” she told him.

“Got it.”

Mark went back downstairs, presumably to let people know I’d be down soon. I managed to compose myself enough to head downstairs as well and start what ended up being a long line of goodbyes. It was midnight by the time everyone, but Linda and my parents, had left. I was so exhausted from such an amazing party and such a whirlwind of emotions that it took every bit of energy I had left just to get ready for bed and collapse into sleep.

Writing all of this down has helped. Bryce really is in love with me. At first he must not have known what to do with those feelings, or even how to react to them. That’s why on Monday he was so unusually silent. Tuesday he didn’t return my hug and agreed to sing much more quickly then I have ever gotten him to before. Wednesday he shut me out. Thursday was the same. Friday must have been when he made the decision to tell me how his feelings have changed. The weight of that decision gone meant that he was closer to what I thought of as normal. His stress about his feelings was gone.

Ugh, I need to find him! He isn’t at home or anywhere in the neighborhood. I can’t look to much farther from home because I can’t drive.

I have to figure out how I really feel, other than confused, and tell him. I don’t know what my expression was when he told me he loved me. I was too shocked to know what my face was doing. For all I know I was wearing a look of disgust and that’s why he disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ["La La La Means I Love You" by the Delfonics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHJPb08KI1E)


	18. Saturday Whenever, Later

**BRYCE**

Maybe if I could see what she’s written in her diary I could find out if she loves me or not. I mean, she writes everything down in that thing.

NO! I can't disrespect her like that.

I need to just accept the fact that she doesn’t love me. Then I can wallow in my own sorrow.


	19. Saturday Night

**CAROL**

Linda left. I am so very thankful to her. I was a mess, crying for what felt like hours today. She kept me stocked with tissues, ice cream, cuddles, and ran interference with my parents.

Now that I have actually calmed down, why did I cry? I’m not sure if there is anyway for Bryce and I to go back to the way things were before my birthday. The three likely scenarios that I can come up with are these:

1) We start dating and become boyfriend/girlfriend.

2) We become awkward friends as I ignore his feelings and he tries to move on.

3) We stop being friends all together.

I don’t want to stop being friends with Bryce, I don’t want him to stop being in my life. If he becomes a stranger to me… I can’t loose him.

I did finally locate him. He pulled into his driveway about an hour ago. The second I heard his car I ran to my window. Once I confirmed that it was really him and his mustang I ran downstairs and out the front door. I was too late though. By the time I stepped outside, he was already inside his house. I tried to see him. Mrs. Sanders wouldn’t let me go up to Bryce’s room though. She told me that he didn’t want to see anyone. That he had shut himself up in his room and wouldn’t even talk to her.

How can he shut himself up like that? He tells me he loves me and then refuses to see me?! I want to see him. I need to see him. Who else am I supposed to talk to to figure this out. I can’t stop thinking about the way he likes to keep his light brown hair cut right above his ears, so then when it grows out the ends flip out and frame his face. The way his eyes shine a bright emerald color when he gets excited about something. He is taller then me, but not to tall, which has always worked well for us when we do things together, like with the swing dancing we did last night. You would think that because of baseball that his hands would be rough with calluses, but they aren’t, not really. At least they never feel rough when we touch. When we slow danced and his hands were around my waist, they were gentle and soft, but I knew they would never let anything bad happen to me. I wish he had kissed my lips and not my forehead when he told me he loved me.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!! I’M IN LOVE WITH BRYCE!

I know that must seem a bit hasty. But looking at everything that has happened this week, the way I’ve been extra worried about him, how terrible it felt when he didn’t want to celebrate winning his game with me, how I noticed him more right before the party. I’ve never written anything down about his eyes before that.

I love Bryce, and he probably thinks that I never want to see him again. I need to get him to talk to me so I can tell him I return his feelings and we can figure this out!


	20. Sunday Morning

**BRYCE**

The weather is dark and gloomy today. Complete cloud cover with a ninety percent chance of rain. Just like me.

Carol tried to talk to me yesterday. I spent most of the day at the batting cages in town from the time they opened at six am until they closed at six pm. With a short break to buy lunch I was able to spend a significant portion of the day channeling my frustration, anger, disappointment, and sadness into perfecting my swing. The cages didn’t really help erase any of those feelings, but I did bat the best I have ever done in all the times I’ve spent at the place.

When I got home she tried to come over several times. My Mom only asked me if I wanted to talk to her the first couple of times. I said no both times, adding that I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Thankfully I have the not-allowed-out-on-Sundays rule working for me today. Carol is stuck in her house all day. I can go and sit and wallow in the park and not have to worry about her finding me while I figure out what I’m going to do about tomorrow.

 

** CAROL  **

I have to figure out how to see Bryce. Today is the weekly lockdown, which means I am going to have to sneak out. After lunch, Dad will sit down to watch a football game, like he does every week. When the dishes are cleared, Mom will sit down with him to read from the most recent book club pick. That means there will be no one in the front half of the house near the front door. I should be able to make it out the door without a problem.

Bryce has left his house! I really appreciate how my bedroom window faces the street in this moment. He’s heading into the park across the road. He looks so dejected. I think he would be more than happy to be soaked by the rain that threatens.

Mom is calling me down for lunch. Please let this work.


	21. Sunday Night

**CAROL**

I’m grounded. My parents caught me trying to sneak back into the house. But, I don’t care! Being grounded will put a damper on any kind of weekend plans I was hoping to make in the near future, but it was worth it.

So, now the story from when I last wrote.

Mom, Dad, and I ate lunch. Dad turned on the football game and Mom sat down next to him to read, like they do every week. Sneaking out couldn’t have been easier. When I came down for lunch I made sure my rain coat and boots were by the front door. I even managed to put an umbrella into my coat pocket. The goal was to stay as dry as possible if it started raining so I wouldn’t have to hid as much evidence sneaking back in.

Once I was out the door I headed straight for the park. I was hoping that Bryce hadn’t wandered too far while I endured a meal stuck inside.

It took me about ten minutes of searching, walking up and down the multiple walking paths before I found him. He was sitting on a bench, facing away from the path I was on. Just the sight of the back of his head made my heart skip a beat and my feet slow to a stop. For a brief moment, I couldn’t decide if I should actually approach Bryce or just go home. How was I to know if he would even speak to me.

But with a deep breath to steel my nerves, I made my way towards him. Bryce and I were going to talk wether he wanted to or not.

“Bryce,” I said the moment I was in his hearing.

I made it around the bench and almost sat down, when he suddenly stood up and started walking away. I ran after him.

“Bryce, we need to talk,” I huffed. Bryce can walk extremely fast when he wants to. “Can you slow down? Please?”

He just kept walking, his entire body tense.

“Bryce, slow down. I have something I want to tell you.”

I was running out of breath he was walking so fast. What I did next probably wasn’t my smartest idea. I am glad I did it though.

To stop the speed demon, I grabbed his hand when it swung close to me. Immediately, Bryce stopped to turn around and tear his hand out of mine.

“WHAT!?” he shouted. “What could you possible have to tell me! I saw everything I needed to see on your face Friday night. Leave me alone.”

I barely heard him say those last three words. He whispered them so quietly, as if he had to say them but didn’t want me to hear. So, I ignored him. No way was I leaving him alone.

“How could you have seen anything remotely reliable in my expression when I was caught so off guard. By the end of the night I couldn’t tell my feelings and thoughts from left or right. On Friday night, I hadn’t yet realized that I love you, too.”  
I was looking straight into his eyes as I confessed and it was heartbreaking to see disappointment and sorrow in them as he looked away.

“Only as friends. I’m just like a big brother to you,” he whispered as he stared at the grass.

“No, you aren’t. Little sisters don’t want their big brothers to kiss them.”

“You’re lying.”

He started to turn away from me to start walking again. I figured this called for something a little desperate. Before he could turn to far, I grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled his face down to mine so I could kiss him. And that is exactly when it started to rain.

For the first few seconds of our lips touching, Bryce stood paralyzed. It wasn’t the best kiss by any means. I may have clacked our teeth together, but I thought I had done pretty well for having never kissed anyone before.

When he started to kiss me back, fireworks exploded behind my eyelids. Blue, white, gold, red, green. Any and every color you can name, I saw. Kissing Bryce was magical and it was only a simple kiss. Lips pressed against lips.

Eventually we both pulled back for air, but not so far back that we weren’t touching. We just stood there in the middle of the park, in the rain, with our foreheads pressed together and our hands linked.

“Wow,” was the only thing I could think to say.

“Yeah,” Bryce said, just as awed. “You weren’t lying.”

“No, I was not.”

“It’s raining.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

Bryce took another step back, and still holding one of my hands, led me to a semi-dry bench that was sheltered under a tree. My mind was a pleasantly blank buzz, so I just stared at our joined hands until he said something.

“When exactly did you realize?” he asked.

I glanced up to see him staring at our hands too. This wasn’t the first time we had held hands, but this particular hold meant so much more. His emerald eyes sparkled.

“Yesterday,” I said. “I was writing in my diary and it popped off the page at me. So, I went back and reread a few of my earlier entries and I could see it there too. Maybe not as obviously, but it was there.”

“So, maybe, you’ve been in love with me for a while.”

“Maybe,” I couldn’t help smiling when he looked up to meet my eyes. “And maybe, you have too?”

“That’s a very good possibility,” he agreed.

He leaned over our hands to kiss me again. (!!!) That second kiss was even better than the first, since Bryce had a bit more of an idea of what he was doing. I’m not going to write down anymore details than that though. A girl has to have a few secrets all her own.

Eventually the rain made its way through the tree branches and we decided it was a good time to go home. Neither one of us wanted to be any more wet and I had snuck out after all.

t As we walked back to our houses sharing my umbrella we talked about what our relationship will become now that we’ve both acknowledged our romantic feelings for each other. We came to the conclusion that we will always be best friends, but now there will a lot more hand holding, some kissing (hopefully not just some), and proper dates. Truthfully, I don’t think all that much will be different. We were so close when we were just best friends that it seems the most natural thing in the world to just start calling Bryce my boyfriend with the promise that he’s the only one. At least it all seems natural now that we’ve talked about it.

I did remember to thank him for his amazing birthday gift! Not only did he sing one of my most favorite songs but he got me a signed copy of one of Neil Sedaka’s records! The next time Bryce is allowed over, which will hopefully be next week for movie night if my parents don’t consider it canceled as part of my grounding, I am going to play it for him. The record has some of my favorite songs. “Next Door to an Angel,” “The Diary,” “Laughter in the Rain,” and “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.” I love them all, almost as much as I love Bryce.

I love Bryce and he loves me! I don’t know if I could be any happier!!

 

** BRYCE  **

She loves me! I have never been happier to be wrong. I guess I don’t need to keep writing in this thing anymore. It’s helped, but I’m not much of a writer. Besides, Carol will keep everything that happens in our relationship documented as she writes in her own diary. I know for sure now that it’ll be my name she underlines or whatever. I just can’t help the smile on my face.

 

* * *

 

“I’m living right next door to an angel,

And I just found out today.

I’m living right next door to an angel,

And she only lives a house away.

 

She used to be such a skinny little girl,

But all of a sudden she’s out of this world.

I’m living right next door to an angel,

And I’m gonna make that angel mine.”

 

 

“Say I’m the boy that you care for,

The boy whose in your diary.”

 

 

“Ooooh, I hear laughter in the rain

Walking hand in hand with the one I love.

Ooooh, how I love the rainy days

And the happy way I feel inside.”

 

 

“Tonight’s the night I’ve waited for,

Because you’re not a baby anymore.

You’ve turned into the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the list of Neil Sedaka songs that inspired this work.
> 
>  [Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h2zp96Hzhg)  
> [Oh, Carol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e72tG80LmsU)  
> [Laughter in the Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsYIiY2wnyU)  
> [The Diary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nchmuKfTYXg)  
> [Next Door to an Angel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlvMbmxEdhk)


End file.
